World War IIThe World in Flames

Chapter 20

The Treaty of VersaillesMassive Reparations - Germany pay $33

billion in reparations to the Allies.Military Limitations - reduced size of Ger.

forces and prohibited them from crossing west of the Rhine River.

Territory Reductions Ger. territory divided to reestablish Poland, gives it access to Baltic Sea. territories were seized by France and in the south to help create Czechoslovakia.

Italy1919: Benito Mussolini started the Fascist

movement in Italy.Mussolini promised to protect Italy from

communism and restore prosperity.1922: Mussolini threatened to march on Rome

with the Fascist militia known as the Blackshirts.The king appointed Mussolini premier. Mussolini

assumed the title of Il Duce, meaning “The Leader” and set about pressing a Fascist agenda.

Germany The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, end Treaty of Versailles and

expand territory. 1923: Nazis marched on city hall in Munich in an attempt to seize

power. Hitler was arrested, and the party was banned. In prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”), in which he

claimed that Germans belonged to a master race called Aryans and that Slavic and Jewish peoples were inferior.

Once out of prison, Hitler pursued political power. Economic depression often results in support for more radical parties.

1932: The Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag, or German Parliament.

1933: Hitler was appointed chancellor and called for new elections. 1934: Hitler gave himself the title of Der Führer, or “The Leader.”

A chance to test their strength…

1936, the Spanish Civil War erupted. Fascist military forces revolted against the Communist-backed

government. General Francisco Franco led the Fascist forces, and received military

support from Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. Franco declared himself head of state in 1936, and won control of the

country in 1939. The Spanish Civil War gave Italy and Germany, whose military force was

reduced by the Treaty of Versailles, the chance to build up and test their military power.

Italy exercised its military might in Ethiopia as well. In 1935, Mussolini ordered an invasion of Ethiopia in response to a border dispute with the Italian colony of Somaliland. Ethiopia fell to Italian rule the following year. 

USSR1922: The Communist Party declared the Union of Soviet

Socialist Republics following the Russian Revolution.1924: Joseph Stalin took power following death of

Communist leader Vladimir Lenin.Stalin imposed a series of Five-Year Plans designed to

industrialize the country and encourage economic growth.Stalin held absolute power and sought to eliminate all

political and social opposition.Nearly 2 million people were imprisoned in concentration

camps by 1935.

Japan The Japanese military blamed the country’s economic woes

on government corruption. Japan imported most of its resources and faced high tariffs as

a result of global depression. The military pushed for territorial expansion to acquire more

resources. 1931: Japan invaded Manchuria in northern China. In

response to U.S. pressure, Emperor Hirohito ordered troop withdrawals, but Minister of War Hideki Tōjō refused.

1937: Japan invaded Nanjing, killing as many as 300,000. 1941: Tōjō became prime minister.

German Violations of the Treaty and Expansion

1935: Hitler initiated draft and built new air force. 1936: Occupy the Rhineland, a stretch of German territory that had

been demilitarized under the treaty. 1937: Called for reunification of German-speaking peoples. March 1938: Austria and announced Anschluss, or unification, of

Austria and Germany. September 1938: Britain, France, Italy, and Germany: Munich

Conference to resolve German claims to the Sudetenland, a region in Czechoslovakia. In exchange for peace, the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany. This

policy became known as appeasement. March 1939: Despite promises, Hitler invaded and divided

Czechoslovakia.

Movement Toward WarMarch 1939: Hitler demanded the return of

Danzig, Poland British and French support, Poland refused.

August 23, 1939: Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Stalin believed conflict among Europe’s capitalist

nations would benefit the USSR. Hitler also promised to divide Poland between

Germany and the USSR.

Blitzkrieg September 1939: Germany invaded Poland:  blitzkrieg, meaning

“lightning war.” army attacked across land, the Luftwaffe, (German air force) bombed cities,

railroads, bridges, and other key targets. USSR invaded from the east. Within weeks, the country was divided between

Germany and USSR.  May 1940: new blitzkrieg, invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and

Belgium. British and French troops rallied to defend Belgium, but German forces swept

through French lines into northern France. June 1940: The Allied forces became trapped in Belgium.

Allied forces successfully evacuated from Dunkirk. German forces overwhelmed France.

June 22, 1940: France surrendered. Hitler installed Marshal Philippe Pétain as leader of the new Vichy government.

French and British Defiance

Charles de Gaulle refused to acknowledge French surrender. led the French resistance forces to Algiers, where

the forces of Free France continued to fight.Winston Churchill declared that Britain would not

surrender to German aggression.The Luftwaffe began a bombing campaign

against Britain and fought the British Royal Air Force. Following the Battle of Britain, Hitler abandoned the planned invasion of the island.

Maginot LineMaginot Line was a series of fortifications

constructed across northeastern France to defend against German invasion. Built from concrete, the barrier was designed to

prevent attack and support French troops. It included arsenals, living quarters, called bunkers, and underground rail lines.

However, the Germans did not attack from the northeast. They attacked through Belgium, skirting the Maginot Line and entering France from the north, where the French were unprepared.

American NeutralityWar Fatigue Too much $ and lives

did not want to get involved in another world war.International Debt Former allies had not repaid

much of the war debt owed to the United States. Nye Committee: Senator Gerald Nye (R) ND

committee reported that many arms manufacturers had profited greatly from World War I. Led many Americans to think that they fought in World War I to benefit arms companies and disinclined them to support World War II.

Neutrality Acts1935: In response to Nye Committee, this first act

prohibited Americans from selling arms to countries at war.

1936: Following onset of the Spanish Civil War, prohibited Americans from selling arms to either side fighting in a civil war.

1937: After Germany, Italy, and Japan allied as the Axis Powers, this act again banned the sale of arms to countries at war. It also required U.S. companies to sell nonmilitary supplies to warring countries only on a cash-and-carry basis to prevent attacks on U.S. ships and ensure payment.

Roosevelt’s Internationalism

During the 1930s, Roosevelt focused on Great Depression with his New Deal legislation

Roosevelt supported internationalism international trade generated prosperity and

encouraged peaceful resolution to conflictsOpposed but did not veto the Neutrality Acts.Roosevelt authorized sale of arms to China when

Japan invaded the country in 1937.Claimed the Neutrality Acts did not apply because

Japan had not declared war on China.

Neutrality Acts 1939: Neutrality Act allowed the sale of weapons on a cash-and-

carry basis only. Spring 1940: Destroyers-for-Bases - Britain received 50 old U.S.

destroyers in exchange for the right to build American bases on British soil.

July 1940: Congress authorized embargo against Japan. March 1941: Lend-Lease Act, allowed U.S. to lend or lease arms to

countries deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” April 1941:Hemispheric Defense Zone: western half of the Atlantic

Ocean to be neutral, and ordered the U.S. Navy to disclose the location of any German submarines to the British.

August 1941: Roosevelt and Churchill signed Atlantic Charter, committing the United States and Britain to postwar security, peace, free trade, and freedom of the seas.

Embargo on Japan 1939: As Britain moved its forces to the Atlantic, it left its colonies

along the Pacific vulnerable to attack from Japan. Japan had embarked on expansionist policies to gain more resources.

1940: Roosevelt restricted the sale of airplane fuel and scrap iron to pressure Japan to pull out of China and to deter Japan from invading British colonies. Japan responded by joining the Axis Powers.

1941: US granted lend-lease aid to China to keep Japan bogged down, but Japan continued with plans to invade French holdings in Indochina.

1941: US froze Japanese assets, stopped oil shipments to Japan, and sent additional forces to Philippines.

1941: Japan plans invasion of French, British, and Dutch colonies. Japan also planned to attack Pearl Harbor and the Philippines.

Pearl HarborDecember 7, 1941: Japan attacked the Pearl

Harbor naval base in Hawaii.U.S. forces had been anticipating a Japanese

attack—but not on Pearl Harbor because of its great distance.

The attack killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed or severely damaged numerous battleships and other naval vessels.

The next day, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war.

HolocaustNazi effort to exterminate the Jewish population

of Europe during World War II. Hitler and the Nazis viewed Jews as an inferior

race of people and blamed them for World War I and the economic devastation that followed.

Nazis killed nearly 6 million Jewish people.They also killed Roma (formerly known as

Gypsies), homosexuals, and Slavic peoples, and those who opposed Nazi rule.

Nuremberg Laws1935 Strip German Jews of citizenship and prohibit

Jews from marrying Germans Jews from voting or holding public office requires Jews with German names to adopt names considered

Jewish marking Jewish passports with a red “J.”

1936 Jews are barred from working as civil servants, teachers, journalists, farmers, and actors.

1938 Jews are barred from practicing law and medicine or owning businesses.

Despite such laws, many Jews remained in Germany. They believed that, in time, conditions would improve.

Kristallnacht Assassination: November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a

Jewish refugee, killed a German diplomat in Paris in response to the deportation of Polish Jews from Germany to Poland.

Response Hitler staged retaliatory attacks against Jews that would seem like a reaction to news of the murder.

Night of Broken Glass: November 9, violence broke out against Jewish peoples in Austria and Germany. More than 90 Jews were killed. Thousands of businesses and hundreds of synagogues were destroyed

Ongoing Persecution Gestapo, arrested 30,000 Jewish men. Only those who relinquished their property and emigrated were released. Insurance money owed to Jewish business owners went to the government instead.

Jewish RefugeesEscape From 1933 to 1939, a quarter of a million Jews fled

Nazi-controlled Germany. Among these were Anne Frank and her family, who fled to the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Nazis later took control of the Netherlands, too, and she and her family were found after two years spent in hiding and sent to an extermination camp.

United States Low quota for Jewish peoples. Great Depression anti-Semitic attitudes

International Response  US, Europe and Latin America met in 1938. Expressed regret, but did not change their laws.

Where to flee?Turned Away Thousands of Jews fled on ships

only to be sent back to Germany and German-occupied lands.

U.S.S. St. Louis Nearly a thousand Jews were aboard when it docked in Cuba in 1939 and refused entry. The ship went on to U.S. waters, where it circled

the coast of Florida for several days before the U.S. government denied it entry. The ship was forced to return to Europe, where its Jewish passengers were returned to their countries of origin.

The Final SolutionWannsee Conference: 1942 Nazi leaders met

to devise a more efficient method of exterminating the Jewish population. decided to capture Jews and transport them to

camps. Healthy persons taken to concentration camps

would work until they no longer could. Young children, elderly persons, the sick, and

others who could not work were separated on arrival and taken to extermination camps where they were killed.

The Final SolutionThe Camps: hundreds of concentration and

extermination camps throughout German-controlled lands.

Each camp housed thousands of prisoners.Auschwitz could hold as many as 100,000.

Its gas chambers could kill 2,000 people at a time. About 1.6 million people were executed at

Auschwitz alone, including 300,000 non-Jewish individuals.